Boston Confucians

From ArticleWorld


The Boston Confucians are a group who follow Confucianism, and believe that it is a good basis for ethics. Because Confucianism is primarily a Chinese philosophy, the members of the Boston Confucians stress the flexibility of Confucianism, claiming that it could neatly and successfully be adapted to meet with Western needs, making it a portable tradition.

Christianity gained widespread acceptance globally as a portable tradition, this is it used as evidence that such portability is possible. Islam has a similar example in that it has historically been adapted as necessary to meet the needs of a specific locality. A theory about situated ethics called bioregional democracy claims that ethics can be structured around an existing society – stressing the importance of language.

Because the ideas presented by Confucius included many Chinese-specific customs and guidelines, the Boston Confucians say that it is probably best to exclude those ethics in favor of those that have a more global perspective, such as honesty.